


Inextricable

by Beleriandings



Series: Just this once (everybody lives) [6]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Angst, Comfort Sex, Everybody Lives, Hurt/Comfort, Immortal Ianto Jones, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Series 03 Fix-It: Children of Earth (Torchwood), Switching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:27:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25208452
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beleriandings/pseuds/Beleriandings
Summary: (AU: Just this once)Life isn't always easy when it's forever. But at least now Jack can let himself think seriously about something he'd never dared to hope for before: a future with Ianto.
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Series: Just this once (everybody lives) [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1826248
Comments: 12
Kudos: 104





	Inextricable

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Flamingbluepanda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flamingbluepanda/gifts).



> For the wonderful [Flamingbluepanda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flamingbluepanda), who wanted the proposal fic. Or rather, they essentially said "proposal fic?" and I was like "YEAH OKAY PROPOSAL FIC :D" and two days later....this exists. Also I don't know how all the angst and smut got in there too, but somehow it did.
> 
> This fic is part of the same AU as my fic [Just this once](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21618322), which I guess is a series now? It's set early in the time skip between chapters 32 and 33, for those counting. 
> 
> But if you haven't read that fic don't worry; I think this one stands on its own, or at least I hope it does! All you need to know about the AU to appreciate this is that 1) Ianto survived the alien virus in Thames House, barely, and 2) later his timeline got looped on to Jack's because of reasons to do with the Rift, and now Ianto's immortal. (Also, 3) the rest of the team are also alive. That's not relevant here but I do enjoy that fact about this AU) 
> 
> Anyway yes, hope you enjoy this!

It was the day of Ianto’s first death that Jack asked him to marry him.

Not that Jack planned it like that from the outset. And it wasn’t strictly the _first_ , either. But the first since the Rift had closed for good and dropped Ianto and Jack from its clutches, their personal timelines all tangled up together. Ianto had come back then, come back gasping for air in Jack’s arms, but they hadn’t learned what had really happened until later. And besides, everything had happened so fast, and Jack had been dead too for most of it.

This time hadn’t been like that. This time, it had been slow, and bloody, and Jack had had to watch it all play out.

It had been just the two of them; it was his fault, Jack thought, he’d let his guard down. Things had been so calm lately, with the Rift closed.

But the underground alien artifacts trading rings in the city were still open for business. Jack and Ianto’s goal today hadn’t even been to engage them; you couldn’t rush these things. It was meant to be information gathering only, infiltration.

Until one of the men had grown suspicious and pulled a gun on them, and from there bullets had flown in both directions along the corridor. One had caught Ianto in the throat, just clipping the artery. Blood gushed and bubbled, too fast to stem by the time Jack had got back to him. But slow enough that Ianto had lived for half a minute, the sticky crimson grip of his fingers loosening on Jack’s wrist as he tried to speak, his voice gone.

Jack had shuddered as the windowless hallway was suddenly overlaid with memories. The concrete floor almost checked flagstones if he looked at it out of the corner of his eye, the fluorescent tube lights not quite the blue glow of a glass tank.

But he’d shook himself free of the memory of that particular close call, determined to be present for Ianto’s sake. Holding on to him and futilely wiping the blood off his mouth as he saw the focus leave Ianto’s eyes.

Knowing he’d be back, but not quite believing it.

There had been a massive amount of blood, more than even Jack had expected somehow. Because Jack knew what happened when a person bled out, of course, through long personal experience. He knew the precise amount of blood that spilled, and knew all too well what it felt like.

But holding Ianto and watching him bleed out like that – and it was quick, but also it had felt a thousand years long – had made Jack realise he really didn’t know the half of it.

He’d just sat there, surrounded by the corpses of the traders who hadn’t fled, in a spreading pool of Ianto’s blood. Jack hadn’t been hurt himself. _Too_ _slow, couldn’t even take the bullet for him_ , he thought bitterly.

He’d clung to Ianto for what felt like an eternity, heart clawing at the inside of his chest in a blind panic despite what he rationally knew to be true now, part of him convinced that Ianto wouldn’t come back to him.

When he did come back, Jack was still holding him, lost in a haze of dread with blood soaking his clothes and tears running down his face. Ianto flinched back to life quietly, hands scrabbling at Jack’s clothes, fighting against his grip for a moment before realising whose arms he was in.

(Jack remembered he’d used to do that, in the early days of Ianto holding him when he came back from death. Eventually, he’d learned to recognise him by touch alone, the smallest sensory input from neurons flaring back to their proper function after being dead. Ianto would probably learn the same one day, Jack thought with resignation, but he hoped it would be a long process. He didn’t want Ianto to have as many deaths as he did. He’d never wished this on him.)

But then a moment later, Ianto’s face had relaxed as he realised it was Jack, the panic ebbing visibly away as his senses reestablished themselves into something coherent. Dimly, Jack realised he’d never known what that looked like from the outside before, or how much it hurt to see.

“Jack… wa-was I...” Ianto’s mouth opened and closed a few times, trying to get his breathing under control as Jack helped him sit up.

“Yeah. Shh, shh. It’s okay, you’re okay...”

His hand went to his throat, smoothing over the healed-up place where the bullet had torn through his flesh, eyes wide. “Oh… oh _god_ , I got _shot_ \- ”

“I...I know” said Jack, voice cracking. “I’m sorry, I’m so _sorry_ I wasn’t quick enough to stop it.”

Ianto turned his head at this, seeming to regain a little clarity as he stared at Jack. “It’s not _your_ fault!”

Jack made to argue, but seeing Ianto visibly shaken he bit back the impulse. “Look, let’s go home, okay?”

“It’s… it’s fine” said Ianto, already pushing himself up, blood dripping off his jacket and tie. “Someone needs to clear this place up.”

“I’ll call the others” said Jack firmly. “They can handle this.” He nodded at Ianto leaning on the wall, offering his arm for support. “That happens when I bleed out too. Low blood pressure for a while after.” He took Ianto’s arm. “C’mon, I’ll drive us home.”

“Don’t be stupid, Jack, I’m perfectly fine to - ”

“Well, I’m not” interrupted Jack, frowning back. “I’m taking you home. And if I have to make that an order then I will.”

Ianto opened his mouth to argue further. But something in Jack’s gaze must have made him think better of it, because he dropped his head and nodded. “Fine” he said.

* * *

Back at Ianto’s flat, Jack stripped them both of their bloody clothes and turned the shower up hot – he knew he always felt the cold more after bleeding out. Ianto’s blood ran off both of their bodies and swirled down the plughole, as Jack washed them both carefully, meticulously.

Usually one or other of them would have abandoned the actual act of showering and had the other pinned against the tiles by now, but today Ianto just stood still and let Jack take care of him; he seemed far away, eyes hardly focused as Jack washed him, taking care to get all the blood out of his hair, turned off the shower and helped him step out.

“Ianto… Ianto!” said Jack, as he wrapped him in a towel. He looked into Ianto’s eyes as he snapped back to awareness. “...Okay? You still with me?”

Ianto took a deep breath and nodded. “Still here, yeah.”

“Because if you weren’t okay, that would be fine” said Jack. “I know I wasn’t, the first few times.”

“ _The first few times_ ” repeated Ianto, a small frown appearing on his forehead as Jack began to towel him dry. “Does it get easier?”

Jack frowned, trying to think how to answer. “Not really” he admitted. “But you do get used to it.”

“...Oh” said Ianto. “That’s... worse, actually.”

Jack winced. “...Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Ianto’s shoulders drooped. “...It _hurt_ , Jack.”

Jack sighed, wrapping him in the towel and pulling him into his arms in a hug. “I know. I know.”

“And you stayed with me.”

“’Course I did” he said, smiling sadly. “You always stay with me, after all.”

“And I always will” said Ianto, his gaze clearing a bit with determination.

Jack drew back, something tugging in his chest. “That’d be nice” he said quietly. There was something, something that had just occurred to him. Or rather, it certainly hadn’t _just_ occurred to him, of course it hadn’t. It had been there for a long time, but before it had been only a dream, of the kind that he didn’t let himself dream because he knew it would only hurt more, after. The kind of _something_ that he once would have shoved away into the darkness, where its brightness couldn’t tempt him, wouldn’t hurt him when it was taken away forever.

But now, though. Now, things were different. Looking at Ianto like that, shoulders hunched and wrapped in a damp towel, both distressed and defiant, vulnerable and fierce, Jack had the realisation that he really could look in that dark place now, where he kept the impossible dreams. And right now, seeing Ianto like this, with damp hair and dripping water on the bathroom tiles, Jack had never felt in such a hurry to inspect the contents of that locked-away place in his heart, turn over the treasures he kept there.

But Ianto seemed to have different ideas. While Jack was lost in thought, he’d looked up at him, a small smirk appearing on his face as he flexed his fingers. “You know, I feel a lot better now” he said. “The numbness is gone. I think my circulation’s going back to normal.”

Jack raised his eyebrows. “Oh?”

“But I think I need to test it” he said, smile growing wider.

“Oh, really?” said Jack, smiling at him under his lashes. “Want me to get the blood pressure cuff?”

“No” said Ianto shortly, and kissed him, pushing Jack backwards to the wall, wet skin against the cold bathroom tiles.

Jack let Ianto take control of the kiss, mouth easily opening for his tongue. Their skin was still hot from the shower where they pressed together, and Ianto soon became fierce and hungry in his kisses. Jack knew why, of course; he knew exactly what it was to want to shake off the lingering feeling of death, to make his blood race and sing and chase away the coldness. Ianto was craving sensation, and that was something that Jack _could_ help with.

It didn’t take long for him to turn them so it was Ianto’s back against the tiles, pressed back and grasping at the cold ceramic with Jack on his knees in front of him. He pinched the skin of Ianto’s hip hard, reached up and took hold of a nipple, twisting a little as he kissed and bit the soft skin of Ianto’s trembling thighs.

When he finally took Ianto’s cock down his throat the noise Ianto made was almost enough to wash away the memories of bullets tearing through soft flesh, a spreading pool of blood. It had always been like that with them to an extent, helping each other to block out the awful things the universe threw at them, for a little while at least. But today, in almost every other way, was different.

But perhaps, he thought as Ianto’s hands wove through his hair and _tugged_ , that could wait until later.

* * *

A few hours had passed, and it had got fully dark outside. At some point they’d moved to Ianto’s bed. Now, Ianto was astride his hips, Jack’s hands all over him; his thighs, his arse, the soft flesh at his sides, his arms and his chest, every so often coming up to cup his face, pulling him close for a kiss as Ianto rode him. Saying, _yes, you’re still here, and I’m here with you_ , with each push of their hips. Ianto’s head was tipped back to the ceiling, eyes half-closed, wringing all the sensation out of it. Jack was ignoring Ianto’s cock for now and holding himself back too, wanting to make this last as long as he could for Ianto.

But at last he couldn’t hold on any longer, coming inside Ianto with a broken cry. His hands went to Ianto’s cock, joining with Ianto’s hands to pull him to completion a moment later, heat spilling over their interwoven fingers and the skin of Jack’s chest, before Ianto collapsed on top of him, breathing hard and ragged.

They just lay like that for a while, before Ianto lifted himself off carefully from Jack’s softening cock. After, Jack fell back against the pillows, breathing hard and throwing his arm over his face for a moment after Ianto swung his legs off the bed, kissing him briefly as he left. Jack felt overwhelmed, tears prickling at his eyes as he lay there amongst the pillows. Ianto came back a moment later, running a cool cloth over his skin, cleaning away the stickiness of come and sweat between them. He did it with his usual care and attention to detail, his touch gentle, and Jack couldn’t help himself.

After all, he’d just had a moment of utter, bright clarity: if he didn’t have this man in his life until the universe died around them, then that life wouldn’t be one he could bear.

And so, when Ianto returned from the bathroom again and made to pull back the covers and slip in beside him, Jack caught his wrist.

“Marry me.”

Ianto blinked. “ - _What?_ ”

Jack opened his mouth and closed it again. But Ianto had heard what he said; no going back now. Not that he wanted to. “Marry me?”

Ianto stared, utterly caught off guard in the middle of climbing into their bed. “What’s brought this on, all of a sudden?”

“You” said Jack, shrugging. He hastened to elaborate, catching Ianto’s confused look. “What you said on the rooftop, back then. That first night, after the Rift.”

Ianto frowned, clearly thinking back through everything that had passed between them that night, struggling to put the pieces together and arrive here.

“Look” said Jack quickly, before Ianto overthought himself into an impossible knot, “I don’t want to be without you in my life, Ianto.” He caught Ianto’s hand, thumb rubbing over the knuckles. “Marry me?” his voice cracked. “Please?”

“You can’t be serious.”

“Why not?”

“Because… well, because...” Ianto gestured around, wordless.

“I am serious” he assured him, then frowned. “Do you not want to? Because if not - ”

“Shut up, of course I _want_ to” said Ianto. “God, Jack, I...” he breathed hard, laughing slightly hysterically as he slipped into the bed beside Jack. “Just… bit sudden, isn’t it?”

Jack simply shrugged. “Not really. After all we’ve been through - ”

Ianto nodded. “Okay, okay yes, I see your point.” He inclined his head. “You don’t have a ring.”

“I’ll get you one.”

An amused smile touched the edge of Ianto’s mouth. “You didn’t go down on one knee.”

Jack smirked to match. “I think you’ve had plenty of demonstration of what I can do on my knees. But I can give you another one, if you want.”

“Maybe later.” Ianto frowned, several expressions warring on his face. For a long, long moment he simply stared at Jack, his eyes filled with enough love to nearly kill him. “...Oh, go on then. Yes.”

“Yes, to going down on - ”

“Yes to marrying you” said Ianto, with an eyeroll and a half-stifled sob. “ _Obviously_.” He folded his arms, staring up at the ceiling, but Jack didn’t miss the tears in his eyes. “Not like there’s anyone else I’d want to marry.”

Jack felt a huge grin spread across his face, as he pushed himself up and close to Ianto again. Turning his face towards him and kissing him, trying to put all his love and gratitude into it, all his relief that Ianto was still with him, would always be with him. By choice, rather than some cruel twist of the universe. He hadn’t realised quite how worried he was about that.

Ianto pulled him into his arms, laughing self-consciously; Jack felt the vibration of it through Ianto’s chest, against his cheek. “That all then?” said Ianto, a little shakily.

Jack kissed the centre of his chest. “For now.”

But not forever. The thought made him smile against Ianto’s skin.

* * *

A little later, the light was turned down low and Ianto above him once more, cock hard again and thrusting inside Jack. Where before, they had had their eyes closed, each taking comfort from the sensation of it, this time their faces were close together. Eyes meeting in the dim light of the bedside lamp with Ianto’s deep, slow strokes, each one making Jack moan low in his throat. Ianto’s hands were holding Jack’s down on the mattress, fingers woven together, inextricable.

Jack breathed out as Ianto’s lips just brushed his, letting the sensation soak into his spine. Watching – almost in a trance - the way the sweat shone on Ianto’s skin in the light, the way the spider-shadows of his eyelashes danced across his face as he moved. These days Jack still sometimes caught himself doing what he’d always done before; memorising moments, etching them into his sense memory for posterity, to see him through the infinite days and nights that stretched ahead of him. He’d used to do that a lot around Ianto; before Thames House, even more in the immediate aftermath. It would take him a while, he suspected, to convince his heart that he didn’t need to anymore, that the world really wasn’t going to take Ianto away from him.

He should’ve got a ring, Jack thought, his fingers flexing and twisting in Ianto’s. He would’ve liked to feel the hard metal absorbing the heat of their skin between them as they held on together, so tight.

His thoughts were interrupted by Ianto kissing him, not breaking the rhythm of his thrusts. When he pulled away from Jack, he was smiling slightly. “You were thinking too loud” he said, by way of explanation.

Jack had to laugh, pushing his hips back up against Ianto so that this time he did falter. “You’re one to talk.”

But Ianto just kissed him again, and for a while they didn’t talk anymore at all.

Much later, they lay side by side in bed, lights off, staring up at the ceiling with their arms loosely linked between them, Ianto’s leg draped over his.

Ianto broke the warm, sleepy silence, voice absolutely deadpan. “So, where do you put the chances of the wedding being interrupted by an alien invasion, or, I don’t know, some kind of potential apocalypse scenario? What’s the betting?”

Jack laughed, turning sideways into Ianto’s shoulder and kissing the hollow of his collarbone. “I don’t know” he said. “But if it happens, we’ll deal with it. Like we always do. Yeah?”

Ianto sighed, looping a warm and sleep-heavy arm around Jack’s waist, settling so that their foreheads pressed together on the pillow. “Yeah” he said. “That sounds good to me.”

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on tumblr @ultraviolet-eucatastrophe, if you like!


End file.
